Are You Good Enough?

I spent years trying to be.

Trying to check the right boxes. Show up when I was supposed to. Pray more. Cuss less. Serve harder.
Some of that was sincere—don’t get me wrong. But some of it?
It was driven by this gnawing question underneath: Am I really good enough for God?

See, church folks will tell you, “You’re saved by grace.”
But then they quietly add a “but.”

But… you better walk the line.
But… if you really loved Jesus, you’d be doing more.
But… faith without works is dead.

And you start to think grace was just the door, but now the rest of the house depends on you.

So you strive.
You perform.
You serve until you’re exhausted and still feel like maybe you’re not doing enough.

But then you read Jesus’ words in Matthew 7:

“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction… But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.”

And for most of my life, I thought the narrow gate meant: Try harder. Be better. Walk straighter.
But now? After decades of stumbling and learning, falling and returning, I’m starting to see it differently.

I wonder if the narrow gate is actually this: the understanding that Jesus did it all for you—and the willingness to accept that.

That’s the part that’s hard for most people.
Not because it’s confusing, but because it’s humbling.

We want to earn something.
We want to say we had a part in it.
We want to feel like we’re making God proud.

But grace doesn’t let you earn it.
It lets you receive it.
And that kind of surrender? That’s the narrow gate.

Not because God is trying to keep people out, but because most of us can’t bear the thought of walking in empty-handed.

And Then There’s the TikTok “Investment” Gospel

Recently, I saw a preacher on TikTok say, “God made an investment in you, and He expects a return.”

And at first, it sounds bold. Motivational. Even scriptural-sounding.

But think it through.

That’s not grace. That’s performance theology wrapped in investment language.

It turns salvation into a business deal, where God becomes the investor and you become the pressured startup trying not to blow it. And that burden? That pressure to prove you’re worth it? That’s not from Jesus.

The moment you think the cross was God’s way of giving you seed capital—and now He’s checking your quarterly return—you’ve stepped off the narrow road and landed right back on the wide one. The road where you’re trying to earn, validate, and perform your way into good standing.

But grace was never transactional. Grace is a gift.

And it’s received, not earned. Period.

So What About “Faith Without Works Is Dead”?

Yeah, I’ve wrestled with that too.

Church folks love to throw it around like it’s a counterpunch to grace.
As if James and Paul were fighting each other in Scripture.
They weren’t.

What James was saying wasn’t “faith + works = salvation.”
He was saying that real faith produces something.
Not because you’re trying to prove your salvation, but because grace does something to you over time.

It’s like a tree.
The roots go deep—that’s grace.
And over time, fruit shows up. That’s works.

But if there’s no fruit, you’ve got to ask, Was there ever a real root?

That’s not legalism. That’s just reality.
But here’s the part religion often misses:

You don’t work to earn salvation—you work because you already have it.

I’m Not Preaching a Free Pass. I’m Preaching Real Freedom.

The narrow gate should change you.
Not overnight. Not all at once. But over time, yes.

As you grow and realize all that Christ has done for you, you start to see life differently.
You serve differently.
You forgive differently.
You repent not because you’re afraid of hell, but because you actually want to be near God.

That’s the kind of shift grace creates. Not a duty. Desire.

For me, it’s not about earning anything anymore.
I still want to do good. I still want to honor God.
But not to gain something—I already have it.
Now, I live from it.

And if you’ve been striving your whole life…
If some preacher or TikTok theologian has made you question whether you’re “saved enough”…
If you’ve been trapped in the mental game of “faith plus works” and feel like you’ll never measure up…

I’ve got good news for you:
You won’t measure up. And you don’t have to.

That’s what grace is.
That’s why Jesus came.
That’s the narrow gate.

And yeah, the Bible says we should “work out our salvation with fear and trembling.”
But read the next part—“for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill His good purpose.” (Phil. 2:12–13)

It’s His work in you that changes you.
You’re not the hero of this story—Jesus is.

Abraham. The Thief. And Belief.

Let’s go back to the simplicity of belief.

Abraham wasn’t made righteous because of what he did.
Scripture says he believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.

He trusted God. Period.

Same with the thief on the cross.

He had no time to clean up his act. He couldn’t undo his crimes. He wasn’t baptized. He didn’t go through a process.
All he did was look at Jesus and say, “Remember me.” And Jesus said, “Today you will be with Me in paradise.”

That’s the power of belief.

Not magic. Not works. Just faith in the right Person.

And I’m convinced there will be people in heaven who—by the way they lived—we never would’ve expected to be there.
Not because they had some secret life of holiness, but because at the right time, in the quiet of their soul, they believed.

And belief was enough.

Because belief opens the door to grace.
And grace does the saving.

What I believe is this:

Jesus made it simple to come to Him.
Simple to believe.
Simple to accept.
But He also made it life-changing if you stick around.

That’s the tension.
Not once-saved-always-saved, not works-based fear.
Just honest, daily surrender to the grace that never runs out.

You can rest now.
You’re not good enough.
But Jesus is.

And that’s enough.